During the //Build 2016 conference, Microsoft announced that the Bash shell and other GNU/Linux command line tools would soon be able to directly run on the Windows platform natively. I think as people start to use this and get familiar with Bash it will help people moving from the Linux world or people who want to get familiar with the Bash shell.

I have used the shell on Linux and am somewhat familiar with it but most of my time has been spent in the Windows world developing with that platform. Therefore preventing me from really using it to it’s potential. I am interested now that it is available to start playing with it and see how it works on the window platform.

Installation

Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux (beta)Search for “Turn Windows features on and off”Scroll down and make sure that the “Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)” feature is selected.Click OK and reboot (this is required to allow the next step).Another option is to use PowerShell- Open a PowerShell prompt as administrator and run: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Open a command prompt and run “bash” and follow the instructions.

Once the installation completes you will be able to run bash from the command prompt or use the shortcut in the Start Menu.

Enjoy and check out what is possible with this new addition to our Windows environment.